Kenneth Sweigard (September 21, 1919 – July 11, 2005) was a

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a movement within the broader Evangelical wing of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes direct personal experience of God in Christianity, God through Baptism with the Holy Spirit#Cl ...

evangelist Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...

from Grande Prairie,

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, and politician who led the

Social Credit Party of Canada The Social Credit Party of Canada (), colloquially known as the Socreds, was a populist political party in Canada that promoted social credit theories of monetary reform. It was the federal wing of the Canadian social credit movement. Origins ...

from 1983 to 1986. In the 1980 election, Social Credit's five remaining Members of Parliament (all from Quebec) were defeated. The party had not had any MPs from its old base of

and

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

since 1968. Sweigard first ran as a Social Credit candidate in the 1980 federal election. Standing in

Peace River The Peace River () is a river in Canada that originates in the Rocky Mountains of northern British Columbia and flows to the northeast through northern Alberta. The Peace River joins the Athabasca River in the Peace-Athabasca Delta to form the ...

, he came in fifth place with 462 votes. He placed behind the three major parties and the candidate for the

Rhinoceros Party of Canada A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family Rhinocerotidae; it can also re ...

candidate, Allan Cavanagh. Sweigard first sought the party's leadership in 1982, when he lost to

Martin Hattersley J. Martin Hattersley (November 10, 1932 - June 7, 2020) was a Canadian lawyer and long-time activist of the Canadian social credit movement. Born in Swinton, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England, Hattersley earned degrees in economics and law fro ...

. Sweigard attended the party's leadership convention dressed as U.S. president

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

, wearing a top hat and carrying a walking stick. His entourage, dressed in 1860s style, held placards reading "Free the Slaves" and chanted "Free the economic slaves", a reference to the

social credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed in the 1920s and 1930s by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made t ...

theory of monetary reform and opposition to the charging of interest on borrowed money. Hattersley resigned as leader in June 1983 when the party would not expel three outspoken party members from Alberta, including

Jim Keegstra James "Jim" Keegstra (March 30, 1934 – June 2, 2014) was a public school teacher and mayor in Eckville, Alberta, Canada, who was charged under the ''Criminal Code'' with wilful promotion of hatred against an identifiable group, the Jewish peo ...

who had been accused of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. Sweigard, who described Keegstra as a "fine Christian gentleman", was elected interim leader by means of a telephone conference call of 17 party members, with 9 votes to 5 votes for party vice-president Richard Lawrence and three for Adrien Lambert. As leader, he ran in the 1984 election in Timiskaming, placing last with 151 votes. Nationally, under his leadership, the party suffered what was, at the time, its worst performance to date receiving only 16,659 votes nationwide. Sweigard attempted to win the leadership on a permanent basis at the party's national convention in 1986 but fared poorly, despite telling delegates that he had been visited by an

angel An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

who had endorsed his candidacy. Sweigard received only 9 of 114 votes, finishing well behind winning candidate Harvey Lainson and runner-up

. After losing the leadership, he ran again in the 1988 election in Peace River, where he came in last in a field of six candidates with 354 votes. He died at Grande Prairie in 2005.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweigard, Ken 1919 births 2005 deaths Alberta candidates for Member of Parliament 20th-century Canadian Christian clergy Canadian people of Swedish descent Social Credit Party of Canada leaders Angelic visionaries